


Virgil's Birthday

by AdrianaintheSnow



Series: Labeled [15]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (with just a pinch of background angst), Fluff, M/M, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23189865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdrianaintheSnow/pseuds/AdrianaintheSnow
Summary: Virgil has his first birthday with Logan and Patton and he’s going to get everything he ever wanted.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Sleep | Remy Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Labeled [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616662
Comments: 270
Kudos: 572





	1. Breakfast Time

**Author's Note:**

> This began as a mini-fic and now it’s 5 parts…

Virgil woke as soon as his bedroom door creaked open, alert immediately, though he did not open his eyes. He relaxed the next second when his brain caught up with reality and filled in that it was just Patton or Logan. He let himself drift back off into sleep, but that only lasted for a moment before he felt a soft touch on his knee. “Virgil, it’s time to wake up,” Logan’s voice said.

“…No?”

“Believe me, you want to be awake before Patton gets here,” Logan said dryly.

“…Nooo…”

Logan chuckled a bit and a hand ran through Virgil’s hair. “It is up to you. I’m just the early warning system. I thought I’d give you the courtesy.”

Virgil cracked open one eye to look up at him. “Hmph?”

The bedroom door burst open the rest of the way a moment later. “Happy birthday!”

“Ah!” Virgil yelped, shooting completely awake as Patton hopped onto the bed, half on top of him.

“I did give you a chance,” Logan said.

“Yeah you did,” Virgil agreed, wrapping his arms around Patton and hugging him back.

After a few moments, Patton released him, bouncing on the bed a bit. “We have breakfast ready except the waffles which we’re going to cook as we go and then we’re going to have you open presents and then we’re going to go have your birthday surprise! After all that, we’ll meet Remy and Emile for pizza tonight.”

Virgil was still leery about the ‘birthday surprise’ they’d discussed, but he calmed himself by remembering that this was Patton and Logan planning the surprise. It wasn’t going to be the seventh birthday, surprise you have a new foster family sort of surprise. Nor was it going to be anything cruel like the painful ninth birthday surprise one of his older foster brothers had given him. He’d been assured it wasn’t anything like that, and they didn’t have any reason to lie. They… they wanted to adopt him; he’d seen the papers, and he didn’t think Patton could come up with a cruel idea if he tried. So, it was going to be nice, he knew, or at least not bad.

That in mind, he let himself be pulled out of bed and led down the steps by a very excited Patton. His eyes widened at the sight of the kitchen. Gee it was 6am, how long had they been up preparing this? Patton had needled him for his favorite thing to eat for breakfast, and he’d eventually admitted that he really liked waffles, but he knew those were hard to make and not a really healthy breakfast. Patton had waived him off and said waffles would be good. They’d set up a whole buffet style waffle toppings bar with all types of fruit, whipped cream, and a few different flavors of syrup. There were also a few plates already on the kitchen table stacked with bacon, sausage, and scrambled eggs and a carton of peach/grape juice, Virgil’s favorite, though he wasn’t sure how they had figured that one out as he’d never mentioned it.

“Wow,” he said.

“Patton likes to overdo it.”

Patton looked like he wanted to argue, but then he surveyed the kitchen briefly and shrugged.

“It’s awesome,” Virgil said. Patton beamed at him.

Missy trotted over to say good morning, but Patton swept her off her feet. “Missy! It’s Virgil’s birthday today!!” Patton sang. Missy likely did not know what having a birthday really meant, but she got incredibly excited at Patton’s tone and yipped a few times happily while her tail started to wag. “Give Virgil his birthday licks!” He held Missy up to Virgil’s face.

“Hey! No!” but it was too late as Missy obeyed Patton before Virgil could jump back. “Patton! She licks her own butt!”

Patton just giggled and spun Missy around a few times to enthusiastic barking.

“The food dear,” Logan reminded after a few moments.

“Oh, right!” He shoved Missy into Logan’s arms who gave a noise of surprise and then disgust as Missy continued her assigned mission to lick her family member’s faces and swiped her tongue over his nose. Logan quickly set her down on her feet as Patton danced around the kitchen to the waffle maker.

“You put chocolate chips in the batter?” Virgil asked when he saw the chunks in the batter as it was poured into the waffle maker.

“Of course! You said that was your favorite! Now make him sit Logan!”

“But I can help…”

“No!”

Logan rolled his eyes but if it was at Patton or Virgil, Virgil did not know for sure, and grabbed his shoulder to steer him toward the table with a gentle touch.

“Please eat some protein before you shock your system with sugar,” Logan instructed.

Well, Virgil certainly wasn’t going to argue with instructions to eat. He grabbed a couple of sausage links and slices of bacon and Logan poured three cups of the juice.

About 5 minutes later, the waffle maker beeped, and Patton called him over to get his waffle. Virgil then turned his attention to the waffle bar. There were so many options. Honestly enough to almost make his brain short circuit. In the end he decided to use the natural dividing lines of the waffle to make four different flavor profiles: butterscotch chips, regular syrup, and whipped cream; blueberry jam and butter; strawberries with strawberry syrup; and some sort of thicker spread with cinnamon that almost looked like icing for a cinnamon roll.

“That is a monstrosity,” Logan commented when he sat down with it, seeming more amused that actually chiding.

“I don’t even know what this one is,” Virgil said making Logan laugh a bit.

“Logan, this one’s yours,” Patton called.

Logan stood and walked over to him. “I don’t need an entire waffle dear,” he said. “Why don’t we just split this one.”

“You always say you want to split the waffle, but you never mean it,” Patton said.

“I beg your pardon.”

“You always eat more than your share because you have a sweet tooth,” he accused

“I do not.”

“Do too!”

“Falsehood!”

“Fine, why don’t we test it?” Patton suggested. “I’ll give you this entire waffle and we’ll see if you can manage to not eat the whole thing.”

“I am the epitome of self-control.”

“Whatever you say love.”

Logan went about spreading jam on his waffle and Patton finished his own a few moments later, only putting syrup and butter on his. Logan promptly got distracted talking to Patton and Virgil and ate about 7/8th of his waffle before he realized what he was doing. He pouted at Patton’s smug face for the rest of breakfast. Virgil ate until he felt just a little bit queasy but managed to stop himself before he felt truly uncomfortable.

After they were all finished, Patton and Logan cleared the table and didn’t even let him help. Virgil twiddled his thumbs feeling a little bit useless, but the two of them truly did seem happy to just have him sit there today.

“And now presents!” Patton said excitedly. Three boxes were set down on the table in front of him. Virgil peered at the presents curiously; he could tell just by looking at them that Logan had wrapped two and Patton had wrapped one. “This one’s from me, this one’s from Logan, and this one’s from both of us. Unwrap that one last!” He reached for Patton’s mostly because that one looked like it was going to be the hardest to open since it had multiple ribbons tied around it. He picked at a strand of the ribbon trying to figure out the best way to get it off before Logan handed him some scissors. Virgil smiled at him in thanks and went about cutting off the ribbons so he could unwrap the box.

He found a folded-up piece of cloth inside that was very soft to the touch. Once he pulled it from the box and unfolded it, he found it was a onesie, complete with a skeleton print on the front and a hood.

Virgil eyed Patton suspiciously. “You’re going to make me wear this aren’t you?” Virgil sighed even as he sort-of hugged the fabric to his chest to nuzzle his face into it. It was really soft, okay!

“He is,” Logan confirmed. Patton just grinned happily as Virgil folded it back up carefully and placed it back in the box. Then, Virgil reached for the present from Logan.

It was a lot less chaotically decorated and it was rather easy to tear the paper from the box. It was, of course, a planner. Honestly what else had Virgil been expecting? However, the planner was clearly personalized, a dark purple with his name in gold lettering on the front.

“I took the liberty of marking important dates,” Logan said. Virgil couldn’t help but smile at how pleased he looked with himself. He picked up the planner and flipped to the first calendar page. “Here’s your birthday,” he said pointing and there was a little happy birthday sticker on the square for the day with Virgil’s name printed in his neat handwriting into the blank spot for that purpose. “I also put in Patton’s and my birthdays as well as Remy and Emile’s. I also looked up your school’s calendar and put in those dates as well. The stickers can be removed if necessary and,” he flipped to the front where there were a couple of pages of stickers, “there are more stickers for you to put in as you need to.”

“Thank you, Logan, this is great,” Virgil said, trying his best not keep his voice level. God, he really shouldn’t be getting chocked up about a planner.

“You’re welcome,” Logan said.

Patton smiled at them both softly and then pushed the last present over to him. Virgil set the planner onto the table and grabbed the last box. It was a smaller box, just a little bigger than the palm of his hand and not very thick. His eyes widened when he peeled off the wrapper to see the box. He glanced up at the two of them and then peaked into the box to make sure they hadn’t just reused an old box. “You got me a new phone?” he asked.

“Yep,” Patton said. They’d picked him up a phone when he’d first came to live with them so he could call and text them when he needed to. It was a relatively cheap smart phone that was still better than anything he’d had before. This though, was the second to newest model out at the moment.

“But that’s… These are really expensive.”

“It’s an investment,” Logan said as though it were nothing all that special. “Which is why I insist you put this on it soon,” he said handing over a simple black phone case. “We will let you pick one out for yourself later, but until then, this should suffice.” Virgil grabbed it and carefully put the phone in the case immediately.

“I,” Virgil said. “Thank you. You didn’t need to do that. I was fine with the other phone you got me.”

“We know sweetie, but you were going to need a new one at some point anyway and we thought you might like this one,” Patton told him.

“I love it! Thank you so much!”

“If you give me your old phone, I can get it set up while you get dressed,” Logan offered.

“Oh right! We need to leave in 20 minutes,” Patton said.

Right, the surprise. He suddenly wasn’t nearly as apprehensive about that anymore. The surprise could be an uppercut to the chin at this point, and it would likely still be the best birthday he’d ever had. “Okay,” he agreed and handed over both of his phones to Logan before dashing upstairs to get dressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can anyone guess what the birthday surprise is? I’ve talked about something Virgil would very much want for his birthday before so you could probably guess if you’ve been paying attention. ;)


	2. Dinosaurs and Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me and Patton: *both sobbing* He’s just so happy!

Patton glanced back at Virgil in the rearview mirror. His face had been stuck in his phone the entire car ride as he fiddled with the settings and features on his new phone. He grabbed the coffee they had gotten him from “The Hideout” on their way without looking at it. His mouth missed twice before he managed to take a drink and Patton smothered a giggle.

Logan glanced at Patton from the driver’s seat. “We’re never going to get him to put that thing down,” he said.

“I can hear you,” Virgil replied, too busy typing something to look up.

Logan shook his head. “It’s a good think he can multitask else we’d never be able to speak with him again.” He was smiling though, clearly just as pleased at how much Virgil liked his gifts as Patton was. Patton hoped the boy liked the rest of his gift. It had been Logan’s idea, and Patton had narrowed his eyes and made absolutely sure he wasn’t making the suggestion just because it’s what _he_ wanted to do. Logan had explained his reasoning though, and Patton had eventually agreed. “We’re here by the way if you’d like to look up from the phone at some point.” They had just pulled up to the parking garage and Logan was rolling down the window to pay.

Virgil glanced up from his phone and blinked as though coming out of a daze. His eyes scanned the sign of the parking garage they were entering and suddenly any question regarding rather Logan could be wrong about these plans fled Patton’s mind. The expression on his face reminded Patton of Missy when she realized they were arriving at the park. “Are we going to the museum?” he asked.

Logan glanced at him in the mirror, a smile on his face. “We are.”

Virgil seemed to completely forget his phone existed looking out the window like he was already in the museum and not in the museum parking garage. “How did you know?” he asked.

“Well,” Logan said and there was just a bit of a smug turn to his lips. “Exactly two years ago today, _someone_ stole a small statue from this museum that was returned within the week. It was quite out of the MO of said thief so I theorized the reason for him being in the museum might have been something the police did not anticipate.”

“The statue was an accident,” Virgil mumbled. “I panicked.”

“I figured,” Logan replied. “Though I do ask that you not panic today, least of all because you are not in a mask and it is the middle of the day.”

Virgil made an adorable pouty face, but any ire quickly melted away as Logan parked the car. “It’s got to be so much cooler during the day,” he said, practically vibrating in his seat.

“Well, we’ll just have to see, won’t we?” Logan asked.

Virgil just nodded and jumped out of the car almost before Logan had put it into park. Patton laughed and followed him out. He couldn’t help but put an arm around the excited boy’s shoulder and squish him just a little bit before linking their arms and leading him in the right direction.

The line wasn’t very long considering the museum was just opening and they were quickly admitted. “Wow!” Virgil said looking at the huge entrance hall.

“Want to see the dinosaur up close?” Patton asked.

“Yes, I want to see the dinosaur up close!”

Patton was sure to snap a few photos of him looking up at the dinosaur skeleton from its base. He didn’t even protest when he saw Patton taking them like he normally did when Patton tried to photograph him.

“Okay,” Logan said when he seemed to have his fill of staring, “Where would you like to start?”

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know,” Virgil said looking a bit overwhelmed, but not necessarily in a bad way.

“Here,” Patton offered. He opened the pamphlet they’d gotten when they paid with all of the exhibits on it. “Pick any of the sections and we can start there.”

Virgil’s eyes scanned it for a few moments. “Space?”

“Space is a good choice,” Patton said, folding the pamphlet back up. “Especially with Logan around.” In fact, when Patton glanced over at his husband, he looked about half as excited as Virgil about the prospect which was very much excited.

Patton herded both of his very exuberant boys off towards the correct location. He quickly found himself struggling to keep up with the two. Despite the fact that they carefully read all of the information on the walls and plaques, they still managed to all but race through the rooms like kids running between games at a Chucky Cheese.

They were both just so excited and Patton felt like his heart could burst as he watched them.

Patton took a moment to breathe while they looked at a model of some spaceship. Logan was saying something to him and pointing, likely putting his physic degrees to good use and Virgil was listening with rapt attention.

Virgil often called himself stupid. Patton hated it and more specifically hated anyone who ever put that idea in Virgil’s head. Today that hate grew even stronger while watching him excitedly read through the plaques next to each exhibit and listen to Logan’s teacher voice with bright eyes. How dare anyone try to stifle that pure joy about learning new information inside him.

They’d been at it for about three hours and Patton was honestly getting a bit tired, but there was no way he was going to ruin their fun. He glanced down at the pamphlet for a bit and found the perfect solution. “There’s a planetarium show at 11,” he mentioned. As expected, both of them were absolutely willing to go to the show and Patton got to lean back in a nice dark room for half an hour, letting the sounds of the recorded voice and Logan and Virgil whispering to each other about the stars wash over him.

“Patton did you really fall asleep?” Logan’s voice asked amused when the lights went up.

“Hush,” Patton said, flicking open his eyes. “I was up at 4:30am.”

“You set the alarm for 4:30am Patton,” Logan pointed out and poked him gently on the shoulder.

“I had to get breakfast ready,” he said, “and I’m fine. The dark just made me sleepy.”

“Hmm, speaking of food. Virgil are you still full from your breakfast monstrosity or are you getting hungry?”

“I could eat,” Virgil replied.

They headed to the “Dinosaur Café” on the bottom floor of the museum which was getting a bit crowded at this time of day, so they grabbed a table first.

“I’ll order the food. What would you like?” Logan asked.

“Would it,” Virgil started to blush, “would it be really weird if I want the dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets?”

Patton couldn’t help himself from smiling widely. “Not weird at all.”

“You want them too, don’t you?” Logan asked Patton with a sigh.

“You knowgg-it.”

“I despise you with every fiber of my being.”

“What type of tyranno-sauces do you want Virgil?”

“Hmm, give me a second.” He chewed on his lips in thought for a moment.

“Virgil do not betray me in this way,” Logan said.

“Roarnch?”

Patton reached forward to give him a high-five. “I’m getting you both plain white bread and water,” Logan groused, turning away from them.

“I want BBQ!” Patton called after him and then turned back to Virgil. “Where do you want to go after lunch?”

“Can I see the pamphlet again?” Patton gave him a warm smile as he pulled the slightly crumped pamphlet from his pocket; his enthusiasm about the museum hadn’t at all flagged throughout the entire day.

“Can we look at the ocean exhibits next?” he asked.

“Ooo that sounds like fun!” Virgil’s eyes lit at the enthusiasm in Patton’s voice.

He looked back down at the pamphlet. “This place is so big,” he said. “I could spend a month here and probably not see everything.” He sounded awed by that fact and it made Patton want to coo over how adorable he was, but at the same time it made him a bit sad. He should have been to museums like this when he was six, not when he was sixteen. He should have been awed by planetariums and dinosaur bones years ago. He should be allowed to be one of those bored teenagers on their phones constantly because he didn’t feel like he needed to take it all in before it disappeared.

Virgil looked up and grinned at him and Patton chose to let the bitterness fade away and just enjoy the sparkle in his eyes.

He was Patton’s baby now, and Patton was going to make sure he got many other birthdays and holidays and Saturday afternoons like today.


	3. I'm Whaling it's Just so Cute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It… it’s just more fluff. Idk what to tell you.

“Look! I’m a fish!” Virgil said. Logan looked up to see that he’d rounded the half wall in the entrance to the marine life section of the museum and was now on the opposite side of the window, his face indeed among the painted-on fish. He was ridiculous, Logan thought with a fond smile. Patton laughed and snapped a picture on his phone.

“That is my new phone background,” Patton informed Logan seriously.

Logan snorted. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this excited before.”

“I never thought I’d find someone who loves museums more than you,” Patton said. “I think he’d live here if they let him.” He turned to Logan with one of his patented gut punching loving expressions on his face. “You did so good with this idea,” he said reaching up to fiddle with his tie a bit.

Logan leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth. He had calculated that Virgil would be pleased with the trip, but he’d had no idea just how elated he’d be. It was as though a decade was taken off his age when he entered the building. He was energetic and happy in a way he very often couldn’t be. There was no way this would be the last time they came to this museum. “You know,” he contemplated out loud, “I think I have another idea for a birthday present.” Patton raised an eyebrow. Logan glanced back to see where Virgil was and then bent forward to whisper in his husband’s ear.

Patton smiled at him, his eyes unbearably soft. “I’ll distract him in the gift shop,” he offered. Logan nodded and then they walked to follow Virgil into the main part of the exhibit.

“Look at the giant whale skeleton!” Virgil enthused looking up at the thing hanging from the roof positioned to look like it was swimming.

“If he is this enthusiastic about fish bones, we should take him to an aquarium,” Logan said to Patton.

Patton laughed. “Once we’ve worked our way through this museum.”

“They named him Waldo,” Virgil informed them, looking affectionately(?) at ‘Waldo.’

“That… certainly is a name for a deceased aquatic mammal,” Logan offered.

“I love him.”

“…Ah.” Logan replied, staring up at it. “Why?”

“He’s just vibing.”

“Vibing?”

“Yeah, he’s chillin’.”

“Chillin’.” Logan looked at Patton for help and could tell by the look on his face that he was absolutely not about to get it.

“Yeah, Logan,” Patton said with an earnest face, “he’s just hanging out.”

“You know,” Logan said calmly, “I was the one who drove you both here. I could just leave you here to fend for yourself.”

Virgil made a clicking noise with his tongue. “Logan is not vibing today.”

“I don’t know what that _means_.”

“Alright, alright we’ll stop,” said Patton, throwing his arm around him. “Stop your whaling.”

“I want a divorce.” Despite his words, he didn’t push Patton away from him and was rewarded with an apology kiss on the cheek.

Virgil gave them a disgusted look that Logan had concluded months ago was mostly for show. “Welp I’m going to go look at the old, dead fish now,” Virgil said, turning away from them to continue into the rest of the exhibit.

They finished up with the ocean exhibits about an hour before the museum was set to close. “And now the gift shop!” Patton said cheerily. “I’ll have to get double the postcards since we have Virgil now!”

Virgil looked at Logan. “Why does he need more postcards because I’m living with you?”

“He fills them out and sends them to me in the mail,” Logan informed him. “Assumedly he’s extending that practice to you.”

“He mails them to his own house?”

“Yes, but he addresses them to me.”

“That’s actually kind of cute,” Virgil laughed.

Logan found himself smiling. “It is,” he said softly, but then raised his voice. “Do not forget the 10-card limit, dear.”

“Per person!” he chirped back.

“That’s not…” Logan sighed and then turned back to Virgil. He reached into his wallet. “Here.”

Virgil blinked blankly at the $20 bill being handed to him.

“It’s part of your birthday present. Pick something out.”

Virgil frowned. “That’s way too many birthday presents.”

Logan rolled his eyes and set the $20 bill on top of his head. “If you want something that costs more than this, please tell me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must make sure Patton is not left alone in the stuffed animal portion of the store. I would like to have a place to sleep.”

With that, he moved to catch up with Patton so he could attempt to make sure he didn’t buy the shop out of postcards.

The two of them watched Virgil poke around the store like a particularly curious corvid. Eventually he came back to them and showed them a lanyard with the museum’s emblem on it as well as a handful of mini plastic animals.

“They’re nice, Virgil,” Logan said.

He shifted nervously. “They’re okay to get then?”

“You don’t need to ask my permission Virgil.”

“But it’s your money,” he protested.

“I do believe I gave you that $20 bill. Therefore, it is your money.”

He did not seem completely comfortable with this and Logan threw a glance at Patton. Patton wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “You can get whatever you want with the money,” he assured. “In fact, what you have is nowhere near $20 so you can pick out something else if you’d like.”

He bit his lip and looked away. “I’m not sure what else.”

“Hmm… oh, look,” Patton said, sudden mischief in his eyes. “Is that miniature versions of some of the statues on exhibit? How interesting.”

Virgil’s head snapped up “Don’t you dare,” he hissed.

“Aw, don’t you wanna take home a statue Virge? I think I’m going to go buy one of them. Wonder… which… one,” he said turning to dart into the aisle.

“Patton no!” Virgil said following him.

“It would be kind of cool to take a statue out of the museum, don’t you think?” Patton replied.

Logan shook his head and took the excuse to escape the giftshop while he was distracted.


	4. Pizza Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We get a bit of Remy being the best chaos uncle and a bit of sobbing.

They left the museum with only a few minutes left before it closed, Virgil with a bag full of a new lanyard, his little plastic animals, and, annoyingly, a mini statue that he was unfortunately familiar with, and drove to a local pizza place and arcade to meet up with Remy and Emile.

Once they’d arrived, Logan paused at the token machine near the door to feed a few dollars into it while Patton guided Virgil into the dining area to find a table.

Remy and Emile showed up a few minutes later. Emile paused next to Logan to chat, but Remy continued into the restaurant. He rubbed his knuckles briefly across the top of Virgil’s head before plopping down in the chair next to him, setting a gift bag on the table in front of him.

“Sup birthday boy,” he said. “How’s it feel to finally be 12?”

“How’s it feel to be 87?”

“Oof, someone’s got that preteen sass going on.”

“Before the two of you continue this conversation,” Patton interjected, “What do you want on the pizza Virgil? I’m going to get one cheese, but you get to decide the other one.”

“Pineapple and anchovies,” he said without missing a beat.

“Monster,” Remy commented. Virgil cracked then, hiding his smile in his hands.

“Careful mister, I’ll actually order it for you.”

Virgil shrugged. “I’d eat it.”

“You’re the worst type of human being,” said Remy.

“But,” Virgil gave in, “we can get pepperoni and black olives for you plebeians with less sophisticated pallets.”

“Ah yes,” said Remy, “how dare we not enjoy the taste of crème de merde.”

“ _Remy._ ”

“It’s okay,” Remy said, “You didn’t take French did you kid?”

“Um no, but I did grow up in foster care.”

“See, he already knows it anyway.”

Patton gave him a withering glare and got to his feet. “Logan come babysit Remy while I go order the pizza.”

Logan sighed and walked over, Emile in toe. “What have you done now?”

“He’s teaching me curse words in other languages,” Virgil provided.

“ _Remington_.” Logan scolded.

Remy prodded Virgil in the side with his elbow. “It’s not teaching you them if you already know them you little gremlin.”

Emile seemed intent on ignoring what was going on. He sat down calmly on the other side of Virgil without a glance at his boyfriend. “Hello Virgil. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” Virgil said with a grin as Remy and Logan started arguing amongst themselves.

“Have you had a good day?” Emile asked.

“It’s been great,” Virgil said, actually impressed with himself that he managed to not get teary-eyed thinking about it. “They’ve been great.”

Emile smiled at him and then rolled his eyes when the argument next to them picked up. “Patton’s on his way back. Why don’t we let Virgil open his present?” Emile suggested, cutting through the argument.

The argument paused easily enough, and Remy slid the gift bag over to him. Virgil opened it to find a dark navy Gravity Falls themed hoody and a gift card for him to get music.

“For the new phone,” Emile explained.

“Thanks,” Virgil said.

“Also, next time none of the buzzkills are looking, I’m going to get you so jacked up on sugar and caffeine that you won’t be able to see straight.”

“No, Remy,” Patton said.

“Whatever you say buzzkill number 2.”

Patton pressed his lips together and glared at Remy for a moment before turning to Virgil. “Now, the pizza’s going to take a bit to cook so why don’t you go play some of the games,” Patton suggested, pushing over the cup of tokens Logan had gotten, but before he could reach for it, Remy snatched it up.

“Come on kid, I’m gonna teach you to gamble!”

“No, Remy,” Logan said.

“Hush buzzkill number 1,” Remy responded. “Come on Virgil.” He grabbed Virgil’s hoody sleeve and pulled him to his feet, proceeding to all but drag Virgil toward the game room.

Despite his claims that he was going to teach Virgil how to gamble, they pretty much ignored the machine that looked like an actual slot machine and spent most of their time trying to catch fake fish with a little magnet fishing pole and playing a few rounds of skeeball. They didn’t get many tickets with the games they played, but Virgil was able to get a spinning top and a rubber band launcher from the prizes counter.

Virgil then proceeded to shoot Remy with the aforementioned rubber band launcher periodically over the pizza.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Remy,” Logan would say every time as Patton and Emile giggled. “Virgil did nothing.”

Eventually Remy caught him red handed, the weapon pointed at his chest. They both paused.

“You know,” Remy said. “They do have that thing where they sing happy birthday to people and give them free ice cream. Of course, Patton and Logan decided not to embarrass you by doing that…”

Virgil narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Want to test me kid?”

Virgil considered him and considered the toy in his hand. He glanced around at the other people in the restaurant. There was one family in a booth and a couple of older people who Virgil imagined were the source of the two kids that had come into the game room when he and Remy had been leaving. Without a word, he pulled the trigger.

Remy stood up immediately. “That’s it,” he said, striding away toward the counter. He talked to the person there for a few moments before turning back to come to the table, looking very pleased with himself.

A few minutes later, a siren blared, making Virgil jump. Fuck, he hadn’t known they had a siren when he’d agreed to this.

Virgil put his head into his hands, face burning. He peaked through his fingers to see a troupe of three employees marching their way and groaned a bit. Patton reached over to give him a soft pat on the shoulder.

“Attention everybody,” the woman at the front of the line said. “We have a very special birthday today and we’d like for all of you to help Virgil celebrate.”

“Oh god,” Virgil whispered under his breath.

He’s turning 14…” The lady said.

“You jerk,” Virgil hissed. Remy just cackled.

“He’s 16,” Logan corrected.

The lady paused. “…Or 16,” she corrected. Virgil slammed his head down on the tabletop. Virgil groaned his way through the rest of her speech and the entire song, letting Patton rub gentle circles onto his back, but he did end up getting free ice cream out of that so he couldn’t be that unhappy. He could, however, reach forward when Remy was distracted by Emile and bop him on the nose with a finger covered in whipped cream.

“This was the best birthday I’ve ever had,” Virgil told Patton and Logan when they were walking out to the car. Remy and Emile had left a few minutes before them, so it was just the three of them once again. “Thank, you guys.”

Logan and Patton exchanged a glance. “We do have one more birthday present to give you,” Logan said with a smile.

“You guys have already given me way too much,” Virgil protested with a frown.

“Patton and I would beg to differ,” Virgil opened his mouth to argue, but Logan waved him off, “but I digress.” He reached into his pocket to get his wallet and pulled something out. At first Virgil was relieved because, oh okay, it’s just some little card or something, but then Logan handed it to him, and he looked at it.

It was a membership pass for two years to the museum.

“This,” he said, but he couldn’t finish. This shouldn’t be all that special, not after the phone and how nice they were to him at the museum all day. Not after the adoption papers they’d filed for him. He knew they were planning on legally adopting him, but there was always that worry in the back of his mind that something would go wrong, that _he_ would do something wrong and it wouldn’t happen. This though? This said something because the membership card in his hands was not going to expire until he was 18 years old. It was like being hit by a truck in the best way possible. They were going to _keep_ him. Not only that, but they planned to give him more days like today which was indisputably the best day of his life. People only got membership passes if it was more cost effective than buying a ticket every trip. They saw that he loved the museum and decided to give him more of it. This was more than just keeping him. This was something else. This was them actually wanting to make him happy.

There was absolutely no stopping himself from bursting into tears in the pizza shop parking lot. He was wracked with sobs, absolutely bawling like a toddler who didn’t get a nap and he didn’t even care.

“Oh goodness baby, shh,” Patton said, pulling him into a solid hug. It just made him want to cry more. He wasn’t looking in Logan’s direction, but he knew he was probably freaking the poor man out. He choked out a laugh at that thought.

Patton pulled back just a bit to wipe at the tears on Virgil’s cheeks with his thumbs. He was crying too Virgil noticed, but a lot more calmly. He smiled at Virgil through his tears.

“Tissue?” Logan offered a bit awkwardly. He’d grabbed one from the pack he always kept in his pocket and was holding it out to him.

Instead of grabbing the tissue, Virgil launched himself at Logan to hug him tight. “You’re the best people in the world,” he sobbed. “I love you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Logan patted the top of his head, unsure for a moment before hugging him back.

This had been the best birthday he could ask for.


	5. Bedtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we put the baby to bed.

Virgil was still very energetic by the time they made it home. Logan worried that he might not sleep too well with how keyed up he was.

Patton seemed to see it too because he eyed the practically vibrating teenager who was working to stir Missy into a frenzy by teasing her with a chew toy. “Hey kiddo. Why don’t you get showered and in your pajamas and then we’ll watch a movie before bed?”

“Sure,” Virgil agreed easily, finally tossing the toy for the dog to dash after. He followed the running dog into the living room and then dashed up the steps.

“…I’ll make some Sleepytime tea,” Logan said, watching him go.

“Oh, he’ll crash sooner than you think,” Patton replied, crossing to hug him around the waist while Logan filled the kettle. “He’s had a good day, but he’s also had a busy day and it’ll catch up with him once he calms down a bit.”

Logan hummed his agreement and turned in Patton’s embrace to trace his lips across his brow. Patton himself looked a bit tired, but nothing sleeping in an hour the next day wouldn’t fix. He’d been a bit nervous about Virgil’s birthday, wanting it to be perfect and hadn’t slept particularly well.

Patton nuzzled his nose against Logan’s cheek. “He’s so sweet,” Patton said. “I don’t know how anyone could be mean to him.”

“Some people are mean,” Logan reminded. “It says nothing about their targets.”

Patton gave him a soft, sad smile which Logan did his best to kiss off his lips. Patton pulled back after a moment. “I’m going to go get the living room set up. Want to make some popcorn?”

Logan nodded and let him go, turning to get the popcorn out of the cupboard.

A few minutes later, he heard footsteps descend the steps and then a sudden squeal from his husband. Logan moved to glance into the living room to see Patton had gathered Virgil into a hug. “You’re so squishable!” Patton gushed. Virgil had chosen to wear the onesie Patton had gotten him for his birthday after his shower and was, Logan could admit, particularly adorable in it. “Look Lo! He’s so huggable.”

“Pat,” Virgil complained, blushing, but not struggling against the hold.

“Isn’t he just so huggable?” Patton asked.

“Indeed, he is,” Logan agreed easily. Virgil glared at him from Patton’s arms, but the expression was not nearly as effective with the fluffy hood half falling off his head. Logan chuckled and opened his arms. Patton gladly passed the child into his embrace and popped off into the kitchen to get the bowl of popcorn and the tea. Virgil gave a disgruntled huff into his chest. “You knowingly put on the onesie,” Logan reminded him into his hair.

Virgil started squirming at that and Logan let him go with a chuckle.

There was a yelp from the kitchen and Logan threw up a hand without even thinking about it.

“Thanks, Lo,” Patton said. Logan glanced back into the kitchen.

“Were you trying to carry all of that?” Logan asked.

“Maybe…”

Logan sighed and carefully righted the three mugs in front of his husband and guided the tea back into them. He had them float into the living room, but let Patton handle the popcorn.

Virgil plopped down onto the couch and grabbed one of the mugs out of the air while the other two touched down on the table.

Patton gave Logan a quick thanks-for-not-letting-me-get-second-degree-burns kiss before joining their son on the couch.

Logan quickly joined them, and they started the movie. Patton had ultimately been correct; despite the energy Virgil had when they’d returned home, he soon started to yawn only about a half hour into the movie. He started to slump between them on the couch and Patton managed to guide him, so he was laying across their laps with his head in Patton’s. He blinked his eyes open every so often to glance at the screen, but those instances became fewer and farther in-between, until he had appeared to drift off completely.

Once the movie came to an end, Logan carried the sleeping boy upstairs. He was still a bit too light for 16, but it was a lot less worrisome than it had been the first time Logan carried him up these steps. Logan settled him into bed and Patton tucked him in with a soft expression on his face.

Patton smiled when they closed the now 16-year-old’s bedroom door. “I think we did good.”

Logan grinned back at him. “I think we did,” he agreed, “but,” he reached down to swipe the man off his feet. Patton gave a surprised yelp but didn’t resist. “I think now it’s time for fathers who insisted on waking up at 4:30am to cook breakfast to go to bed.”

Patton laughed, and didn’t protest as he was carried off to bed after a very long day.


End file.
